"The Perfect Wedding and a detailed account of the last five days" Friday was a race. I packed the night before so Friday morning I went to the earlier history class, took the quiz and left in a rush. Didn't have time to stop home but went straight to the resort where I found Jackie relaxing in the spa. I joined her in the bubbly water and did not have to wait long before I was being called for my massage. It was a very refreshing afternoon even though I didn't much like my massage lady. After the spa, I said a quick hello to the relatives who were there- grandma, richard, mary anne, and "little" richard. Hurried to walgreens to have pictures printed for the guest book, rushed home to sweep around raking up things I needed and others had forgotten, dashed into a tanning place and had my first spray tan—what an experience. I was a little afraid to do it—squinted the first time the mister thing went by and then remembered I would get weird streaks on my face if I did that so I finally relaxed. What they do to you is like painting a car. But I’m glad I did it (even though I’ve been against it for so long) because it really looked good and seemed to clear up my face a lot. I had to really haul buns back to the resort and quick get ready for the rehearsal. That was fun, pretty easy. A big group of us hopped on the party bus and headed to Cartwrights for the rehearsal dinner, which turned out to be a very nice party of a huge group of family and friends. Jackie and Tim wanted to invite a lot of people because they were out of towners, family members and friends that they don’t get to see very often. So that was really nice and the food was delicious. Matt amazed me with the amount of food he was able to inhale. We had good conversation, the two of us. He was telling me about this girl Kelly, who just may be “the one”. It was really nice to see everyone—all the family from back east and old friends who have just kind of gone adrift over the years. Saturday was all in all amazing. Got up and went to the bridesmaids suit for a yummy buffet breakfast, all of us lounging in our scrubs and bed hair with no make-up. Met up with the men and piled into the limo to be driven to the beauty parlor. We were there for about 2 hours getting all our hair and make-up down and when we left, we left as supermodels! Jackie was already looking amazing and she wasn’t even in her dress yet. We had to hurry back and as soon as we returned we had to get Jackie ready. The photographers and videographer were already there, filling the room with nerves as they bustled around with their equipment and ordered this and that. I pulled the zipper up on her dress and suddenly my sister was a bride about to be married! I almost starting crying right there in the room when the photographers were taking her picture. She had to go to do pictures and see Tim while the bridesmaids got ready. Not long after that we were all out on the lawn taking pictures trying to avoid our heels sinking into the grass. It wasn’t long before we had to go back to the room as guests began to arrive. Jackie met up with us a bit later and it was just another big breath before we were walking her out of the suit and down towards the lawn, hiding behind the valet stand as the later guests arrived. And then it was time. The seats were filled with the familiar faces and the quartet was playing the wedding music. I watched ahead of me as Rachael, Meredith, and Shannon walked down the stairs one by one to meet up with the groomsmen and walk down the isle. I looked behind me towards the doorway where Jackie and dad were peeking anxiously around the corner. I couldn’t believe how spectacular she looked. I walked my solo walk down the isle and turned with blurry eyes as my sister and dad began walking down the stairs. My dad began to cry, which was the ultimate trigger for the other tears in the audience. They stood together and said their vows: “For richer and richer”. Before I think any of us knew it, it was time to kiss the bride and introduce, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Dollander. Walt and I witnessed the signing of the marriage license—that was really special to me. There was mingling, drinks, more pictures, and finally the grand entrance and the couple’s first dance. Behind the doors of the banquet hall, Jackie and Tim were nervously practicing their dance and apparently kept messing up. Tim was extremely nervous about their dance—after that, he said, he could relax. Well, they took the dance floor and swept the audience. Their dance looked fabulous and I don’t even think they messed up. Jackie’s dress swished around her like a fairy tale. From there, the whole night is a jumble of happy memories; the dancing, the food, the toasts, more dancing, Matt smoking a cigar, me dancing with Brandon, Phil and his naughty chair dance, Jackie “tossing” the bouquet to Shannon, the monogram on the cake—NDT (the only thing that didn’t go according to plan, and that’s nothing), guest book pictures, grandma getting down, Phil and Nicole swing dancing, Kris and I doing our salsa routine, the flaming purse, midnight snack, so much, so much!! I wish we could do it all over again just to have all that fun one more time. Kris and I finally crashed about 2am and then got up about 9 to meet up with my parents and the Dollanders! for breakfast. The rest of the day was packing up and then meeting with a whole caravan of relatives to tour them all over Scottsdale to see current homes and houses in development. It was a long but very enjoyable day. I have to admit, I was feeling very reluctant to come back to school. Being home—or just with all my family—felt so good. And it’s finally the greatest time of year where the mornings and evenings are barely chilly, the days are nice, everything is green and it’s so hard not to be happy. These are the days of Sunday afternoon suppers, relaxing mornings, of open windows and doors, dogs running around, long walks after meals, loud talk and laughter, and enjoyable car rides. So I didn’t come back to school until Monday morning. Mom and grandma came a bit later and watched a movie while I went to class, then we went to lunch and split from there. And tonight, well tonight I’m going home for lasagna dinner (again! Yay!) and will stay the night again, come back tomorrow morning. Friday afternoon I go back home, Kris will be back in town, and Jackie and Tim will be on their honeymoon in Tahiti!! After all the excitement of this weekend, I am just so anxious for life. It kills me that, in a minute, I have to return to the ridiculous worry and work of an English paper…